Inspiration from a Friend
by splattermusic
Summary: While on a Saturday night in the Jasmine Dragon, Zuko attempts to find inspiration for a song to play for the evening. Where will he find his inspiration? Random customers of course.


**My second Avatar fic. Remember, this is AU and be warned, it has slight Zutara and Jetara, so if you're a Kataanger, Maiko or whatever the hell's out there, please respect my work and don't flame me just for that reason. Please criticize me on my writing skill, not my point of view. This is rated T for language, alcohol and suggestive actions. Please read and review. See if you can guess what this song is before the end. Remember, no stupid shipping wars.  
**

**-splattermusic**

**I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender  
**

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It was three hours till twelve. A dark haired man sauntered into the Jasmine Dragon with his hood on his head and his eyes looking down. He sat down at the bar and placed a few coins and a random dollar into a jar. "A twenty dollar tip, Zuko? Isn't that a little expensive? You haven't even ordered anything yet."

Zuko looked up to the bartender. He was a plump old mad with a top-knot of grey hair. He had a warm smile which immediately melted Zuko's stoic facade. Zuko smiled in return to his dear uncle. He finally processed what his uncle had said through his mind. He looked down to the table and chuckled while shaking his head slowly, back and forth. "I meant to put one dollar, Uncle Iroh."

Iroh heartily laughed out loud. "Now you're being too cheap!"

A man left the bar with a tip and an empty glass. Iroh became quick to clean after him. And his focus returned to Zuko. "I am just kidding with you," he reached into the tip jar and took the twenty dollar bill out, "here, you can keep it. So what do you want?"

Zuko put his hand up. "No, Uncle, you can have it. I'll have just a glass of water. I want to be sober when I play tonight."

Iroh nodded and filled an ice-cold glass of water. He handed it to Zuko. "So, what song will you play tonight, Nephew?"

The dark-haired boy simply shrugged his shoulders. Iroh leaned on the table, "I think I know the best song for tonight. I used to love this song when I was younger. It was very popular."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, "How younger?"

He placed his finished glass of water on the table and Iroh began to wipe it with a cloth. "Oh, in my mid-to-late forties, I have forgotten its name, but I know it is in the back of my head somewhere."

Zuko deeply exhaled, "How am I supposed to know what song I'm supposed to play if you won't tell me the name?"

"I would tell you the name," Iroh countered, "but I do not know it. Because I do not know it, I can not tell you. Look around the bar, find some inspiration. It'll help you." He pushed Zuko's hood off his head, "And no hoods indoors, it's impolite."

Zuko growled and began to walk around the bar. He scoured around until he saw Aang, sitting on a stool in the corner, eagerly watching people pour into the bar. Aang, finally noticing Zuko, left his stool and Zuko shook hands with the bar owner, and his best friend. "Watching the crowd, huh?" Zuko asked.

Aang nodded. "That's all I can usually do around here. You know that they're all here for you, right?"

Zuko rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that would explain all the women."

Aang chuckled a bit to himself, "You know, you should work full time."

Zuko shook his head, "No, I don't have enough time, I already have two other jobs and you know my filthy rich bastard of a father won't lend me money."

Aang stroked the bottom of his chin, "Isn't your dad in jail? And your sister too?"

Zuko shamefully nodded, "Yeah, but they had enough money, so the butler just bailed them out again. My family really has gone down hill since my mom died."

The younger bar owner looked up to him, "Hey Zuko, do you ever get the feeling that you want to have more in your life?"

Zuko shook his head for who know how many times that night, "No, my uncle taught me enough to appreciate what you already have."

"You know, someday, I'm going to get out of this place, get a better job."

Zuko grinned, he sarcastically replied, "Gee, what can be better than a bar owner?"

Aang took it rather seriously, "Anything! You know what I'd really like to be?"

Aang leaned his back against the wall and Zuko did the same, "What?" he asked.

Aang looked at him with stars in his eyes, "An actor."

Zuko bit his tongue to nearly contain his laughter, but it wasn't enough. He erupted with hilarity, surprisingly enough for the usually sullen man. He calmed down and wiped a tear from his eye, "Thanks Aang, I haven't laughed that much in a while. So, what do you really want to be?"

Aang stomped his foot on the ground, "I'm serious! I think I really have a shot at the movies! If only I could get out of here."

Zuko stared with disbelief, "I'm sorry Aang, but you're a horrible liar, you always stutter and choke up. How can you possibly handle acting?"

"Well lying is different than acting! Lying is betraying someone's trust, and I can't handle that. Acting is pretending to be someone else for other people's entertainment. I can handle that."

Zuko sighed, "Uncle is more likely to get into jail than you getting an acting job."

Aang rolled his eyes, "Gee that makes me feel so much better. And besides, you could do a lot better too. I mean you're really talented. Man, what are you doing here?"

He looked down at his feet, "I don't know."

Zuko patted his friend on the back and continued his search for inspiration. He finally recognized some people and sat down with them, putting his chair backwards and resting his head and arms on the top of the backrest. He looked at the three other men and woman sitting at the table with him, one man and woman had Earth Kingdom clothes on and the man had a moustache and long, dark brown hair, while the woman had shorter than shoulder-length brown hair and it was lighter in color. The other man had blue eyes and a brown Mohawk tied into a ponytail. He wore a Water Tribe military uniform and had his arms linked with the Earth Kingdom girl. The Water Tribe man smiled, "Zuko, how've you been, buddy?"

He stuck out his hand and Zuko shook it. "Same old, I guess. Hello Suki."

The Earth Kingdom woman nodded, "Hey, Zuko."

Zuko looked at the Earth Kingdom man, he nodded his head once, "Haru."

The man did the same, "Zuko."

Zuko observed his bluely-dressed friend's attire, "Still in the Water Tribe Navy, Sokka? You know you'll probably stay there for the rest of your young life."

Sokka nodded, "Hey, I've got to support my country, the best way I can."

Zuko counteracted, "But we're not even in a war."

Suki sighed and defended her husband, "The Navy is just as important to Sokka as the Kyoshi Warriors are to me, okay Zuko?"

He nodded, "So what about you Haru? Haven't you found a girl to settle down with yet?"

Haru shook his head, "No, I'm way too busy for a wife. You know my work and everything. I still need to help my dad get his life back on track. He just got out of jail."

"Didn't he get framed for a murder?" Zuko asked.

Haru grimly nodded, "And we finally proved his innocence. No we've got to find him a job and a place to live, trust me, it's not easy, so I have no time women."

Zuko nodded in understanding as he looked around for another person to muse upon. He then noticed a dark brown haired man, obviously flirting with a brown haired, braided waitress.

Zuko rolled his eyes at his close friend's antics. The dark brown haired man smirked at the waitress, "So, you doing anything tonight, honey?"

The waitress suggestively smiled in return, "Well, I'm just serving you, Jet. Do you want anything else?"

Jet grinned, "You mean besides you, right Ty Lee?"

She giggled and walked over to another table to clean after someone's mess. Jet watched closely as she quite openly swayed her hips back and forth. He kept leaning back in his chair until… "Whoa!"

Jet fell back and closed his eyes, expecting to hit the floor, but he was suddenly stopped. He looked up to see the burnt face of his closest friend, "Hey Zuko, what are you doing here?"

Zuko scoffed, "I'm always here on Saturdays, Jet. You should know that by now. Striking out with the girls again?"

Jet laughed, "I'm not striking out, I happen to be very successful tonight." Zuko pushed his chair back into its original position, "You saw Ty Lee, I still can't believe she's studying politics _and_ anatomy, and I almost got Katara into the bedroom with me."

Zuko raised his eyebrow as he sat down. His voice slightly rose, "You did what with Katara?"

A few heads turned in their direction, including Sokka, "What did you say about my sister?"

Jet violently shook his head, making his hair whip in all directions possible, "No, no ignore, Zuko, he's drunk! He doesn't know what he's saying!"

Iroh jokingly asked, "Nephew, I thought you were supposed to be sober tonight."

Most of the costumers of the bar began to laugh, even Sokka, and they chose not to drill any further, though Sokka continued suspicious glares throughout the evening. Zuko looked straight at Jet's face, "So what do you mean, 'almost got Katara into the bedroom with me'?"

Jet laughed, "Relax, my friend, I said almost. She's still hung up over you. She was thinking about you the whole time I was talking to her. I only flirted because I wanted to know what my ex thought about you. You know, she really said a lot of suggestive things about you."

Zuko frowned and crossed his arms, "You shouldn't lead her on like this, especially since you two broke up."

Jet held his hands up, "Hey! I'm not leading her on; she's the one who dumped me, okay?"

"And you're still flirting?"

Jet smirked his signature smirk and closed his eyes, he began to lean back again, though not as far as last time, "It's only natural, Zuko, it's only natural." He opened one eye, "Speak of the devil… here she comes."

A blue-eyed waitress confidently walked over to their table. She smiled at Zuko, "Hi Zuko, looking good tonight," she frowned at Jet.

Jet goofily grinned at her, "Hey Katara!"

"Don't 'Hey Katara' me!" she pointed her finger to his nose, "I'm still mad at you for what you did earlier. And don't think for a second I would've slept with you! I was just faking it all."

"Yeah, because you moaning 'Oh Jet…' was totally fake."

She slightly pushed at his chest and Jet completely toppled over. Zuko smiled, "Nice."

She smiled back, "Thanks. So, you want some water?"

"Yes, please."

She set a glass cup in front of him on the table and began filling it up with a pitcher of water."So what song are you playing tonight?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I asked Uncle for ideas but he was pretty ambiguous."

Jet got up on his knees and crossed his arms on table, "Well, what did he say?"

Zuko began rub his temples with his index and middle finger, "He just said that it was popular about thirty years ago and that looking around the bar would help."

Katara snapped her fingers, "I think I've got an idea."

She grabbed Zuko's hand and led him to the piano at the front of the bar. She pushed him onto the bench and bent down to whisper in his ear. He looked at her with an inquiring look on his face, "Are you sure that's the song Uncle's talking about?"

"Positive, these people need a little pick-me-up. They need to forget about life for a while. "

Zuko exhaled and began the intro. His fingers moved across the 88's like a wild carnival. He inhaled, the microphone smelled exactly like beer. And he began to sing, "It's nine o'clock on a Saturday,

"The regular crowd shuffles down,

"There's an old man sitting across from me, always having a smile, not a frown."

He smiled and looked at his uncle, who gave him an approving nod. "He says, 'Son, can you play me a memory,

"I'm not really sure how it goes,

"But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete,

"When I wore a younger man's clothes.'

"Oh, la la la, di da da,

"La la, di di da da dum,

"Sing us a song, you're the piano man,

"Sing us a song tonight,

"Well, we're all in the mood for a melody,

"And you've got us all feelin' all right…"

He looked at Katara, she was leaning on the piano and he grinned and winked one eye at her. She winked back. Suddenly, as he sang, Zuko wondered,_ "What did Katara say to Jet about me?"_

_

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**Can you guess the song? It's Piano Man, by the genius that is Billy Joel. Oh, speaking of musical geniuses, today is John Lennon's 70th birthday, you know, if he...was...alive. Rest in peace, John, you will be dearly missed. I hope you liked the story, now, by show of hands, who actually knew this song before this story and is still a teenager? If you fall into that category, congratulations, a hug and waffle for you. Hope you liked it, please review.**

**-splattermusic**

**I do not own Piano Man, I just said that a few sentences before  
**


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